My rim size?

[James Morse]

on the '97, I have the cast aluminum deep dish wheels. They are 15x7.0J, right?
I think there was only one rim size even though there were several wheels.

 

[Curious Hound]

on the '97, I have the cast aluminum deep dish wheels. They are 15x7.0J, right?
I think there was only one rim size even though there were several wheels.

If you remove a wheel and look at the back side, it should be stamped into the wheel. 15x7 is common. I believe 14x7 was common on early Rangers. Not sure if they used 15x8's.

 

[James Morse]

Just when I took my jackstands back to the basement...

btw max size of spare is 235/70R15. Was reading the manual, went and checked, sure enough, that's the spare's size.
it is not a match to the 235/75R15's on the truck. so if I ever need a spare, is that a small enough difference that it's still driveable to get somewhere to fix it better?
it's kind of like a mini spare that's not. you just can't go bigger than that for spare or it won't fit in the carrier.
which brings up the question if you go to 31" and want a full size spare you either have to put it in the bed, maybe up behind the passenger, which will somewhat impeded your visibiity, or,
you have a swing-out arrangement attached to the bumper
I don't know what else you could do - one of those things or live with a smaller size spare. With a/t tires I'd think the chance of a flat is pretty small.... (famous last words)

 

[racsan]

I thought the steel 14’s were 5-1/2 wide. Alloys have always been 7 wide- at least in the 15”.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yup, 15x7 is the rim size then, 15” diameter, 7” wide. There’s also backseat and offset to consider but that’s only really important when you’re buying new rims. Bolt spacing is 5 on 4.5”, same as all 83-11 Rangers, all Bronco IIs, Explorers and a lot of Jeeps.

 

[Curious Hound]

Just when I took my jackstands back to the basement...

btw max size of spare is 235/70R15. Was reading the manual, went and checked, sure enough, that's the spare's size.
it is not a match to the 235/75R15's on the truck. so if I ever need a spare, is that a small enough difference that it's still driveable to get somewhere to fix it better?
it's kind of like a mini spare that's not. you just can't go bigger than that for spare or it won't fit in the carrier.
which brings up the question if you go to 31" and want a full size spare you either have to put it in the bed, maybe up behind the passenger, which will somewhat impeded your visibiity, or,
you have a swing-out arrangement attached to the bumper
I don't know what else you could do - one of those things or live with a smaller size spare. With a/t tires I'd think the chance of a flat is pretty small.... (famous last words)

With open differentials, a smaller spare is OK. With limited slip, you would put the smaller spare on the front and just run rwd.

There are many ways to carry a larger full-size spare. In the bed, either tied down or mounted to a bracket along the bed side or front, carrier mounted to hitch receiver or rear bumper, carrier mounted on the front bumper, or, I have even seen spares mounted on the cab roof.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

I found a calculator a couple of years back that you could enter the vehicle make/model, and it would tell you the rim size. I used it when I bought tires and rims for my Taurus.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Yup, 15x7 is the rim size then, 15” diameter, 7” wide. There’s also backseat and offset to consider but that’s only really important when you’re buying new rims. Bolt spacing is 5 on 4.5”, same as all 83-11 Rangers, all Bronco IIs, Explorers and a lot of Jeeps.

Aerostars, too.

 

[Josh B]

I have a 235/75R15 with a factory Ford rim in my spare rack

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I have a 235/75R15 with a factory Ford rim in my spare rack

Me too, it fits just fine. Can’t remember if I tried a 31” or not but I’m pretty sure it should squeeze in there. No bigger than that though

 

[superj]

i do, also

 

[James Morse]

Ford Ranger 1997 - Wheel & Tire Sizes, PCD, Offset and Rims specs - Wheel-Size.com

Not sure if that's useful.

Thanks everyone. Makes sense 275 would fit in spare carrier, it's not much different.

I'm confused about putting the spare on the front is ok in 2wd... what if the flat is on the rear? I have lsd. Are you saying I'd have to take the front tire off, put on the back, then put the spare on the front? That would be problematic with one jack. I kind of have to think that for short distances the 235/70 is ok, I can't believe Ford would make things that complicated?

When I get 31" I could take the best of the 235/75's and put on the spare.... but it's still different size than 31".

Per my post on the sticker I'm planning to go to 31" since Ford says that's how the truck was built (and it should make the speedo more accurate), that makes even more of a difference to the spare. I can try and see if 31" will fit in carrier (means buying 5 tires). Alternatives are several as to mounting it otherwise, thanks for all the options for that.

What I said about 235/70 as max size in the carrier is in the shop manual. But we know there can be errors there. I mean, either it fits the carrier, or not, regardless of what the book says.

I shouldn't have to worry about offsets since putting 31" on is just making it like it was as-built, there should be zero problems about that.

 

[Curious Hound]

I'm confused about putting the spare on the front is ok in 2wd... what if the flat is on the rear? I have lsd. Are you saying I'd have to take the front tire off, put on the back, then put the spare on the front?

If your spare is a smaller or larger diameter than the other tires, then it must rotate at a different speed. With lsd, this causes more wear in the clutches. It works. You can do it for short distances. With a locking diff, it will cause stresses and binding between the two axle shafts and could break things on hard surfaces

Ford didn't make things difficult. They most likely sent the truck out the door with 5 tires all the same diameter.

 

[pjtoledo]

4wd yes, 2wd no. at least my 2005 2wd had a smaller spare.
the 2000 4wd had the same size 235/75-15 but it was a temporary tire.

 

[Snoranger]

Your truck came with 14” rims and 15” tires. At least that what Ford says…